In today's episode we're going to bust some of the myths of finding the perfect location for your nature play program .
Speaker 2We like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we record today the carby carby and guppy guppy people . We recognize their continued connection to the land and waters of this beautiful place . We recognize Aboriginal people as the original custodians of this land and acknowledge that they have never ceded sovereignty . We respect all guppy guppy elders , ancestors and emerging elders , and all First Nations people listening today .
Speaker 1Welcome to Raising Wildlings , a podcast about parenting , alternative education and stepping into the wilderness , however that looks with your family .
Speaker 2Each week , we'll be interviewing experts that truly inspire us to answer your parenting and education questions . We'll also be sharing stories from some incredible families that took the leap and are taking the road less traveled .
Speaker 1We're your hosts , vicki and Nikki from Wildlings Forest School Popping your headphones , settle in and join us on this next adventure . Hello and welcome to the Raising Wildlings podcast . We are your hosts today .
Speaker 2I'm Vicki Oliver and I'm Nikki Farrell . Now we get a lot of people come to us saying , oh , I'd love to do what you do , but where I work and where I play is just not very pretty . It's ugly . So the first thing we're going to do is talk to you about what you don't need in a location . Talk to us about that , vick .
Speaker 1Yeah , I think there's a lot of myths around what makes a great nature play program . And the one thing that you don't actually need is a beach , a creek , water , a rainforest , an Instagramable face . You don't need it . If we think about Australia , 90% of it is inland or rural and they do not have access , in particular , I think , to some sort of water source .
Speaker 1So I think that a lot of the time we compare ourselves to those people because water is beautiful and water is amazing , but a lot of people don't actually have sites that are accessible .
Speaker 2And can I just add there , it's also much easier to manage risk wise not having water .
Speaker 1Absolutely .
Speaker 2And it's costless because you have less supervision needs when you don't have water . So I would actually almost argue that not having water is a lot easier .
Speaker 1Absolutely , and can be just as beautiful , and everything is place-based . What we do in nature If you live in a rural area that doesn't have a beach , or some rural areas on the beach , or even forest , or trees , just trees . Yeah , just trees or even a desert . It's place-based . The children that are coming to play there and to learn are learning in an area that they live .
Speaker 1And it's contextualized and it makes sense to them because this is their environment . They're not looking to experience something that is outside of their home . So it's really important I can't emphasize this enough that having a waterway on your land , on your location , is absolutely not necessary .
Speaker 2Yeah , and for those people that are coming to get themselves on the gram in your beautiful location , they don't stay anyway . Once they've got their snap , they're off . They're not the stayers . So you want people that are there for the right reasons and they're there for the long term , the long hole , because that's where the long term benefits are , not just a photo on the grid .
Speaker 1And I think that's very important to remember . People are not often coming unless you're a location-specific program . People are not coming to your program because of the environment . Specifically , if we dig deeper , what they're looking for is community and connection and access to nature . Now , nowhere in those three things does it say that it has to be a beautiful rainforest with a waterfall or a beach with rock pools or a creek . Those things are lovely , but each of those areas actually come , like you say , like you know , insects or specific challenges that can sometimes put people off wanting to be in those beautiful environments . They look good in a picture but they're not actually fun to be in long term .
Speaker 2Particularly with young children .
Speaker 1You've got a mozzie infested tidal creek .
Speaker 2Super slippery water , like rocky creek beds that are hard for young children to navigate . We had a location like that and we didn't stay there because it was too difficult with young children for a playgroup .
Speaker 1So in saying all of that , let's talk about what it is that we actually are looking for , that are an absolute must , or at least we must be able to problem solve these things when it comes to your location , and the first one , which might surprise you , is access to toilets .
Speaker 1So , preferably , what we're looking for is a regular toilet , a public toilet , something that's within a short walking distance or , you know , a doable walking distance , because people are privacy and hygiene , and if you're working in the early childcare space , there's also some regulations about having these things in order to run your programs as well .
Speaker 2And it's not just hygiene . You need to add there that in the early years , if you're running a bush kinder program , you also need privacy . So that is as big and as important as hygiene . So just a bush , we doesn't cut it in some spaces , so you will need another option .
Speaker 1And also when you're an adult , you want to also know that you've got access to a toilet . Some of the people that you're working with will want access to a toilet at some point as well . Depending on the duration of your program , that might make a difference . Otherwise , you might want to think of a portaloo or some sort of camp toilet set up with a camp shower for privacy Shower tent , I should say .
Speaker 2One thing we do really need to consider is that many mothers who have had children often having continence issues or and or their toilet training toddlers , so having a toilet is really high on their priority list , and you may lose people and lose customers if they know that there's no toilet around . On the other side of that , most councils and shires will only issue a permit for you to run programs with children and or any program If there's a toilet at that space . So I mean really what you're being told here is find a space with a toilet .
Speaker 1Now the next thing that we often are looking for is some sort of shelter for shade if it's incredibly hot , or for rain , so that we can be out in or weather . Now permanent is best . It's not always available . Otherwise , you are going to have to look at a way of bringing a rope into some trees and putting a flytar or a tarp up and something that's not going to be an overly huge area . It's not going to be an overly huge effort for you and your team members to do when it's raining .
Speaker 1The ultimate to this is to just cancel your programs , because at some point people will need to be able to get out of the weather , and again this will depend on who's coming to your programs . But if you've got mothers who are nursing babies , then having some way out of the rain is a very important consideration For many different reasons . So as it doesn't have to be a permanent shelter , if you've got one , that's great . But having an option to either put up even a Gazebo is a good idea if you're able to transport that easily enough , because they can be quite heavy as well .
Speaker 2I just want to add there most of our sites have permanent rain shelters of some sort because we operate on Council land . But our longest running site , our main site in the Sunshine Coast , we've only ever rigged up a lightweight fly which has got hammock hooks in the weed species . You won't be able to do that on Council property . They don't let you attach things to trees . So it's really a site by site decision on how you provide that shelter .
Speaker 1There's different ways of putting up tarps as well , using poles , and that's just a matter of learning how to do that .
Speaker 2We did that in the early days until we found a more permanent solution .
Speaker 1Now the other consideration that we have for locations is actually car parking . Now the reason why this needs to be considered and is quite important is because if you're applying for a permit on Council land , that will be something that they will think about when you're applying for a certain space , you're looking for a preferable car park , not just residential roadside , because you could end up with complaints from local residents . So if you are using an area where it will be parking along the street , you want to have a think about ways in which you can engage the local residents or businesses who ever is along there and letting them know and having a conversation with them , to avoid having complaints being made and then permits or attention being brought to your program and shutting it down .
Speaker 2Particularly if you're trying to run from home . Most councils will shut that down based on road traffic , noise and neighbourhood complaints . So it's actually a lot easier in a lot of ways to run on public property .
Speaker 1Another consideration , too , is , if you're running programs for anyone coming to you in a bus , making sure that you have bus access .
Speaker 2And bus turnaround Bus turnaround .
Speaker 1So that's important . But what we believe is the most important part of your location is you and your team . What you bring to the program , your team brings to the program , will have people returning . As we said earlier , it won't be the location , it will be how you made them feel when they were in that location , and that is the most crucial thing to remember when you are looking for a location .
Speaker 2And how well you connect your families to the land and the memories that you help them make on that land . We have multiple siblings come through now , where some families have had every child come through our spaces and they call this our second home . This is where we go when we need to regulate , when poops hit the fan at home . We come here now and I just think that's incredible . So they come to our programs and on their own terms , because they have that deeper connection with the space as well .
Speaker 1So what we can do at every site in order to enhance that is to help your families and your children to learn all of the different well , maybe not all of them , but as many as you can the different plan and animal names , and that's not to say you need to know them straight away , but you can be on a journey together to learn that , to know the space well .
Speaker 2And , of course , here in Australia and many , many other places , make sure you're booking and paying for your traditional custodians to come and teach the local traditional stories . That will help you connect to the land . So when you can see the mountain that has the beautiful dream time story based around it from your space , you need to know what the story is and you need to be able to share that with your families as well .
Speaker 1And they can also give you different perspectives on the plants and animals that live in that space and just share so much cultural knowledge . That will help you and your families feel more connected to that space and know its history .
Speaker 2Another thing we love to do is we help our families look after the land . So we do litter pickups regularly , we plant trees , we do weeding , all of those things you know . We look after the spaces where there might be more erosion , we move those and then we fix those eroded spaces up . So when you have that sense of custodianship , you know you being that environmental steward , you're more likely to love and protect it and want to come back and return as well .
Speaker 1And then ultimately , when we're doing all of these things and we're spending time together , we're building friendships and that village and we're making those memories on the land , and that's what people are looking for . They're not looking for that Instagramable site , although you know that will still happen in many cases . What they're actually looking for , what will bring them back every time , is exactly that friendships , connection and that village people to feeling supported and sharing in something , a shared value .
Speaker 2Yeah , I'm going to add to that . With that building that community and that village , that giving needs to be reciprocal . So organizing things like clothes swaps , meal trains for mothers that are having new babies , Anything we're giving and receiving in that village , really brings people together and builds those relationships really tidally .
Speaker 1And I guess if they are looking for that Instagramable space then they're probably in the wrong program .
Speaker 2And that's okay .
Speaker 1That's okay as well . We can't be all the things to all the people , as we mentioned in a podcast the other day . So a nice and short and sweet one for you . Today we really wanted to bust open those myths about what your location needs to be . Ultimately , what you need to do is make sure that people feel comfortable , so having toilets , car parking and shelter for those extremes in the heat and the rain and finding ways to connect those families , so making memories and learning about the space and having that deep connection . You don't need the Instagramable waterway and the beautiful rainforests . It's nice to have , but it's absolutely not essential .
Speaker 2Thank you so much for doing this journey with us , as always , and until next week , stay wild .